Straining tub

ABSTRACT

A ROUND STRAINING TUB WHICH COMPRISES A TUB MEMBER INCLUDING A TUB BOTTOM DEFINING A DISCHARGE OPENING. A GRAIN REMOVING DEVICE IS ROTATABLE ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS, MOVABLE OVER A BOTTOM AND THEREBY FEEDING FROM THE GRAIN REMOVING DEVICE TOWARD THE DISCHARGE OPENING. THE DISCHARGE OPENING IS DISPOSED AT ABOUT THE CENTER OF THE TUB BOTTOM.

June 8, 1971 wlESENAUER ETAL 3,583,875

STRAINING TUB Filed Oct. 2, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet l LPN /nv nforr w June8, 1971 wngs ET AL 3,583,875

STRAINING TUB 2 Sheets-Sheet :3

Filed 001;. Z, 1968 Inventor;

$1M #MZ United States Patent O 3,583,875 STRAINING TUB Robert Wiesenauerand Arthur Fauth, Ludwigsburg, Germany, assignors to A. Ziemann GmbH,Ludwigsburg (Baden-Wurttemberg), Germany Filed Oct. 2, 1968, Ser. No.764,382 Claims priority, application Germany, Oct. 3, 1967, P 16 42766.0Int. Cl. C12c 7/10 U.S. Cl. 99-278 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Around straining tub which comprises a tub member including a tub bottomdefining a discharge opening. A grain removing device is rotatable abouta vertical axis, movable over a bottom and thereby feeding from thegrain removing device toward the discharge opening. The dischargeopening is disposed at about the center of the tub bottom.

The present invention relates to a straining tub, in general, and to around straining tub with a grain discharge opening in the tub bottom anda grain releasing apparatus rotatable about a vertical axis, moving overa lower bottom and thereby feeding the grain to the discharge opening,in particular.

In all known straining tubs of this type, which are used for theseparation of the wort from the grain, the discharge opening is providedin the outer edge zone of the bottom adjacent the rim. This position ofthe discharge opening is suitable insofar as the distance of the grainin the prior known straining tubs is brought about either by means ofadjustable knives of a loosening device moving in circular paths aboutthe center of the straining tub, or by a radical grain slat provided onthe loosening device, through which the grain is pushed eventually tothe outer edge of the lower bottom, where they fall out downwardly fromthe discharge opening which is closed during the straining process.

The arrangement of the discharge opening in the outer edge zone of thebottom has, however, the great disad vantage that the removal of thegrain from the straining tub takes a comparatively long time, becausesubstantially, grain is pushed into the discharge opening only when thegrain slat or the knives reach the opening. This is only once the caseduring each revolution of the loosening device.

In large tubs two discharge openings are provided, and in very largetubs also three or four. Due to the larger grain quantity, however, inthese straining tubs, the time period for the removal of the grain isnot less than in the small or medium tubs with a single dischargeopening. The faster the brew production should be, the less is the timewhich is available for the removal of the grain from the straining tub.The time period which is required for the process of removal of thegrain limits thus the brew production, which is, of course, disturbing.

A shortening of the time period for removal of the grain byincrease ofthe number of the discharge openings in the straining tub is to beexcluded, because the expense for the closing mechanism and its drivewould be too great.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a straining tubwhich permits an appreciable shortening of the grain removal time bysimple means.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a straining tubof the above-stated type, in which the discharge opening is disposed inthe center of the tub bottom.

In such arrangement of the discharge opening, the

grain can be pushed out without interruption. The grain fed inwardlyfrom the grain removal device is pushed without retardation into thedischarge opening, when it has reached the center of the bottom of thetub. The effect of a central discharge opening is, thus, to be comparedwith that of a discharge opening having the shape of an annular slotextending along the total outer edge zone of the tub bottom. From thiscomparison, it can be recognized without any difiiculty that the grainremoval time is appreciably shorter in the straining tub designed inaccordance with the present invention, than that in the prior knowndevices.

In order not to disturb the emergence of the grain from the dischargeopening, it is suitable to provide the grain removal device on a shaftinserted from above into the tub and mounted in an overhung manner.

The grain removal device can be designed in a different manner. In apreferred embodiment, it has at least one carrying arm secured to thedrive shaft and extending in radial direction outwardly with a feedingdevice suspendable in the grain. This feeding device can be formed as acurved grain slat suspended from the carrying arm, in which grain slateach face element of the front side is disposed at an acute angle to itspath curve. Suitably the curvature of the front side of the grain slatis chosen such, that a substantially equal feeding speed of all faceelements radially inwardly is brought about.

The feeding device can, however, also, by example, be formed by amulti-part grain slat, the parts of which are disposed at a distancefrom each other and at an acute angle to its direction of movement. Theeffect of such feeding can be compared with the effect of the obliquelypositioned knives, partly used in the known straining tubs for removingof the grain. It is, for this reason, also possible in the straining tubin accordance with the present invention, to feed the grain by means ofobliquely positioned knives of the loosening device towards the centraldischarge opening. In this case, the advantage is brought about relativeto the known straining tubs, that the knives for the removal of thegrain must all swing in the same direction, which simplifies the driveand the control. In the known straining tubs, however, the outer kniveshad to swing in the opposite direction to that of the further insideprovided knives, in order to feed the grain to the tub edge inwardly upto the discharge opening.

The feeding device can be formed, also, by an endless conveyor belt,which runs over rollers within the range of the inner and othe outer endof the carrying arm, and of which rollers at least one is driven. Forthe drive of the rollers, for instance, a heat resistant drive motor canbe used. For the drive of the conveyor band, a toothed gear meshing atoothed gear rim of the outer frame of the tub, can be provided.

In a preferred embodiment, the carrying arm is arranged between tworadial arms of a loosening device, which has a shaft concentricallydisposed to the drive shaft.

Since the feeding device is permitted to be suspended in the grain onlyduring the grain removal process, it can be swingably secured, forinstance, to the carrying arm. In an advantageous embodiment, the driveshaft of the grain removal device is designed, however, as a hollowshaft axially displaceably mounted on the shaft of the loosening device.The grain removal device can be displaced here upwardly to a point, thatthe feeding device is not suspended in the grain.

Withthese and other objects in view which will become apparent in thefollowing detailed description, the present invention, which is shown byexample only, will be 3 clearly understood in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an axial section of a first embodiment of the straining tub,designed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section along the lines IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section along the lines III-III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section similar to that shown in FIG. 2 ofanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of a third embodiment ofthe straining tub;

FIG. 6 is a section along the lines VI-VI of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary axial section of a variation of the embodimentdisclosed in FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 13, into acircular cylindrical straining tub 1 having a bottom 2 extends fromabove a shaft 3, mounted in an overhung manner and concentrically to thestraining tub 1, at the lower end of which shaft 3 is secured aloosening device. The loosening device comprises two carriers 4 securtdto the shaft 3 for joint rotation therewith, disposed horizontally andextending diametrically in outward direction, as well as looseningknives 4, which are secured on the carriers 4 spaced apart from eachother, and point to the bottom 2.

The bottom 2 is equipped with a central opening which coincides with thecorresponding opening in the bottom of the straining tub. Both openingsform jointly the discharge opening 5. By means of a closing device (notshown), the discharge opening 5 can be closed up.

A hub 7 of a grain removing device, identified as a unit by the numeral6, is mounted axially displaceably, but non-rotatably, on the shaft 3.As shown in particular in FIG. 2, two carrying arms 8 and 9 are securedto the hub 7, which carrying arms 8 and 9 extend at equal height and indiametrical directions radially outwardly up to the neighbourhood of theperiphery of the straining tub I and are disposed perpendicularly to thecarriers 4.

At a distance below the carrying arms 8 and 9 are arranged two curvedgrain slats 10 and 11, respectively, which are disposed in a planeparallel to the plane of the bottom 2 and connected by means ofobliquely disposed rods 12 and 13, respectively, with the correspondingcarrying arms. The inclined position of the rods 12 and 13,respectively, is chosen such, as shown in FIG. 3, that the upper endruns ahead of the lower end, in the direction of rotation indicated bythe arrow A. The equally formed grain slats 10 and 11 extend from theperiphery of the straining tub I up to the edge of the discharge opening5 and are curved such, that upon recognition of the different speeds ofthe individual sections, all sections produce a substantially equal feedspeed radially inwardly.

A drive device 15, by which the shaft 3 can be driven, as well as thehub 7 and the shaft 3, can be moved in axial direction, is disposed atan upper cover 16 of the straining tub I.

The operation of the present device is as follows:

While the separation of the wort from the grain and the washing out ofthe extract remaining in the grain by means of oversprinkling water, thegrain removal device 6 is lifted out of the grain and runs idle with theloosening device 4, 4. When thereafter the grain must be removed fromthe straining tub 1, the grain removing device 6 is lowered, so that thegrain slats 10 and 11 are suspended in the grain. Due to theircurvature, they feed continuously the grain to the discharge opening 5.Since the grain can enter the discharge opening 5 independently from themomentary position of the grain slats 10 and 11, when they have reachedthe inner end of the grain slats, the grain is pushed out continuouslyfrom the discharge opening, so that the straining tub I is emptied in acomparatively short time period.

Referring now again to the drawings, and in particular to the embodimentdisclosed in FIG. 4, instead of the two one-part grain slats 10 and 11,multi-part grain slats are provided. The individual parts 10 and 11',which are secured spaced apart from each other on the carrying arms 8'and 9', respectively, stand at an acute angle to their moving path, andfeed, therefore, the grain radially inwardly. Their width is chosensuch, that the rear edge of the one part is disposed about within thepath of the front edge of the inwardly following next part. By thisarrangement, it is brought about that the grain is fed inwardly so farby each part, that it is gripped by the next adjacent part and isdelivered by the latter again to the next part. This process repeatsitself until the grain reaches the discharge opening. The remainingstructure is in this embodiment the same as that in FIGS. l-3.

Referring now to the embodiments disclosed in FIGS. 5-7, theseembodiments are distinguished from the embodiments disclosed in FIGS.1-3 merely by a different design of the grain removal device, for whichreason the other parts are no more repeated.

As shown in FIG. 5, the grain removing device, generally identified bythe numeral 106, has at each carrying arm 108 and 109 a feeding device.Since both feeding devices are equally designed, one only is shown inthe drawing and described. The feeding device has two rollers 117 and118 which are rotatably mounted with a vertical axis at the outer andinner end, respectively, of the carrying arm 108. On the rollers 117 and118 is arranged, in this embodiment, an endless conveyor band 119 withscrapers 120. It is to be understood that, instead of a band, also achain or the like can be used. The feeding device is driven by a heatresistant driving motor 121, which is arranged on the arm 108 and whichdrives the roller 117. The direction of rotation of the motor is chosensuch, that the conveyor belt 119 runs at its front side from the outsidetowards the inside.

Instead of a drive of the conveyor band by means of a motor, as shown inFIG. 7, the drive can also take place by means of a toothed gear 122,which meshes a toothed wheel rim 123, when the carrying arm 108'rotates, which toothed wheel rim 123 is provided at the inner wall ofthe frame 124. The toothed gear 122 drives a bevelled gear 126 by meansof a shaft 125, which bevelled gear 126 meshes another bevelled gear 127mounted on the shaft of the roller 117'.

We claim:

1. A round straining tub comprising a tub member including a tub bottomdefining a discharge opening,

a grain removing device rotatable about a vertical axis,

movable over a lowering bottom and thereby feeding from said grainremoving device toward said discharge opening,

said discharge opening being disposed at about the center of said tubbottom,

said grain removing device comprising at least one carrying arm securedto a drive shaft and extending outwardly in radial direction and saidcarrying arm extending outwardly in radial direction and having aconveying device immersable in said grain,

said conveying device comprises a curved grain slat suspended from saidcarrying arm, and

each face element of the front side of said grain slat defining an acuteangle to the curve of its path.

2. The tub, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said grain slat has acurvature providing substantially equal feeding speed of all faceelements radially inwardly.

3. The tub, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said conveying devicecomprises a multi-part grain slat, the parts of which are spaced apartfrom each other and are arranged at an acute angle to their direction ofmovement.

4. The tub, as set forth in claim 3, wherein said parts of saidmulti-part grain slat are oriented such that the rear edge of one ofsaid parts is disposed about within the path of the front edge of thenext adjacent inward part.

5. A round straining tub comprising a tub member including a tub bottomdefining a discharge opening,

a grain removing device rotatable about a vertical axis,

movable over a lowering bottom and thereby feeding from said grainremoving device toward said discharge opening,

said discharge opening being disposed at about the center of said tubbottom,

said grain removing device comprises at least one carrying arm securedto a drive shaft and extending outwardly in radial direction and saidcarrying arm extending outwardly in radial direction and having aconveying device immersable in said grain.

said conveying device comprises an endless conveyor band,

said carrying arm having rollers within the range of its inner and outerend,

said endless conveyor band surrounding said rollers and adapted to runabout said rollers, and

means for driving at least one of said rollers.

6. The tub, as set forth in claim 5, wherein said driving meanscomprises an electric motor secured to said carrying arm.

7. The tub, as set forth in claim 5, wherein said driving meanscomprises a toothed gear meshing a toothed rim secured to the peripheryof said hub.

8. A round straining tub comprising a tub member including a tub bottomdefining a discharge opening,

a grain removing device rotatable about a vertical axis,

movable over a lowering bottom and thereby feeding from said grainremoving device toward said discharge opening,

said discharge opening being disposed at about the center of said tubbottom,

said grain removing device comprises at least one carrying arm securedto a drive shaft and extending outwardly in radial direction and saidcarrying arm extending outwardly in radial direction and having aconveying device immersable in said grain.

a loosening device having two radial arms, and wherein said carrying armis disposed between said radial arms,

and

said loosening device has a shaft disposed concentrically to said driveshaft.

9. The tub, as set forth in claim 8, wherein said drive shaft comprisesa hub secured to and non-rotatably but axially immovably disposed onsaid shaft of said loosening device.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,042,284 5/ 1936 Westcott 992783,034,895 5/1962 OMalley 99278 3,362,690 1/1968 McSwain 25944 3,380,3734/1968 Lenz 99278 ROBERT W. JENKINS, Primary Examiner

